Monday, January 28, 2013

Fleetwood Mac STILL Undecided on Releasing New Music.

Rolling Stone Q&A: Fleetwood Mac on Reissuing 'Rumours' and Making New Music
'I am more appreciative of the fact that we are really family,' says Lindsey Buckingham
Rolling Stone
By Steve Appleford
January 28, 2013

What are your current recording plans?
Buckingham: When Stevie was on the road, and not long after her mom had passed away, Mick, John and I got together and we cut a bunch of tracks, and they turned out great. They were all done in Stevie's keys. They were done with her in mind. Subsequently, Stevie and I have gotten together, and she's sung on two of those. There's also another track that dates back to [pre-Fleetwood Mac project] Buckingham-Nicks that Stevie and I built up from scratch. There's a lot of stuff there. Some of this we will do in the show. We're not pushing it. We're just going to wait and see what everybody wants to hear.

I think we need to make Fleetwood Mac aware LOUD AND CLEAR that WE the fans want to hear NEW MUSIC!  Why isn't this getting through to them?!







Few expected the reunion of Fleetwood Mac's classic Seventies lineup back in 1997, and even fewer could have predicted it would still be going strong in 2013. On April 4th, in Columbus, Ohio, the band begin a North American tour with a set list that will include new songs. And on Tuesday comes the release of expanded editions of Rumours, their multi-platinum, career-defining disc from 1977.

"After all this time you would think there was nothing left to discover, nothing left to work out, no new chapters to be written. But that is not the case," singer-guitarist Lindsey Buckingham tells Rolling Stone.

Buckingham, drummer Mick Fleetwood and singer Stevie Nicks recently gathered for interviews in a huge, wood-paneled room at the Village Recorder, a legendary recording space in West Los Angeles. More than three decades earlier, the band spent 13 months there making the 1979 double album Tusk, the surprisingly experimental follow-up to Rumours.

"We have a connection with this building like we have with nothing else," said Nicks. "It's hallowed ground."

At the interview Nicks and Buckingham held hands, Fleetwood sitting beside them as votive candles flickered around the room. (Bassist John McVie stayed home, and former singer-keyboardist Christine McVie has been retired to the English countryside since 1998.)

Few expected the reunion of Fleetwood Mac's classic Seventies lineup back in 1997, and even fewer could have predicted it would still be going strong in 2013. On April 4th, in Columbus, Ohio, the band begin a North American tour with a set list that will include new songs. And on Tuesday comes the release of expanded editions of Rumours, their multi-platinum, career-defining disc from 1977.

Rolling Stone's cover story about the making of Rumours featured a photo of you all in bed together. Were the stories of romantic turmoil true?

Stevie Nicks: They're all true. [Laughter]

Lindsey Buckingham: That really was a lot of the appeal of Rumours. The music was wonderful, but the music was also authentic because it was two couples breaking up and writing dialogue to each other. It was also appealing because we were rising to the occasion to follow our destiny. So you had to live in denial, you had to learn to compartmentalize your emotions and do what needs to be done. It brought out the voyeur a little bit in everybody.

Nicks: Most people, when they break up, you don't see each other for a while. You hope that you don't run into that person ever at that point. In our situation, the breakups were going on, and we had to go to work the next day. It was very hard. You had to walk in with your head high and an open heart. We had to be very focused, and we knew that because no matter how hard it was on us – and it was awful – we still wanted to make a great record. Nobody was going to say, OK, I'll just quit.

You knew you were going to the studio at 2 [p.m.], and you knew you would be there until 3 or 4 in the morning. And you couldn't sit there at the board and glare at your ex-partner. You had to be a grownup. Even though there were a thousand people around us saying to do this or do that, we still had to gather together as a fivesome and say, "We're not going to let this beat us."

When you do the Rumours songs now, do any of those original feelings ever come back?

Buckingham: Oh, I hope not.

Nicks: I think the original feelings do come back. They take me right back to where we were. The songs morph a little bit every time we do them. Instrumentally, they morph. "Gold Dust Woman" is sometimes Indian. Sometimes it's just rock & roll. It travels, and all these songs do that. To me, they are always exciting. I never feel bored when we burst into one of our big hit songs, because what they were all written about was so heavy that they could never be boring.

What is it like to look closely at Rumours again so many years later?

Nicks: We've been waiting a long time to put this out. If you were a Fleetwood Mac fan, you get to hear the songs turn into the songs without a lot of overdubbing. It's very simple. When I listen to it, I think if I was 20 years old, I would definitely want to be in that band. There is something strangely timeless about it that makes you feel like it was just recorded last year. I now know why I went to Lindsey and said, "I think we should give this a chance. This is a really good band." It's quite an interesting group of crazy people that managed to meld their styles together.

Mick Fleetwood: The cause and effect of that album was so humongous – not only for us as musicians, but what it did and what it allowed for the journey. It was the start of something for sure – the enormity of everything we were faced with and were going to go through, and the opportunities, and the opportunities maybe blown and then retrieved. Now we're sitting here excited about going out and playing. This album wasn't the trigger for us doing this, but it's quite a story.

Nicks: It's pretty great that it's coming out at the same time.

Fleetwood: I'm glad it is. It wasn't planned that way at all.

Nicks: There's a lot of great stuff on it, and a lot of creepy, weird stuff that never got on an album – just cool stuff, little minute things, little snippets of stuff that's really intriguing.

Since it is coming out at the same time as your tour, will it affect your set list at all?

Nicks: There are a lot of songs on Rumours that are in the set no matter what. I think what will happen is we'll end up talking about it onstage. Most of those songs are in our set anyway. We'll just end up telling stories and talking about how these things happen. It's always fun to share that with your audience.

Fleetwood Mac's reunion in 1997 for The Dance live album was fairly unexpected, but you've managed to stay together ever since. How did that happen?

Nicks: The Dance was very strong, and I think it really opened up our eyes. We had been apart for a long time. I absolutely did not think Fleetwood Mac was coming back at that point. Then all of a sudden it was, and it was like, all our plans were canceled, everything was flipped over, and Fleetwood Mac was coming back.

Buckingham: I took off in '87 because –

Nicks: You quit.

Buckingham: [Nods] I quit because things were getting a little too crazy, and I wanted to try to get my feet back on the ground. We did Clinton's inauguration in '93, and that was sort of the catalyst and had a delayed reaction. I think by the time you cut to '96, when we contemplated doing The Dance, there had been enough time where we all settled down as people. The craziness that existed in '87 and '88 was gone. We were – for all intents and purposes – adults. I think the time apart helped us appreciate each other. The group has always been a group of people you can say maybe didn't belong in the same band together, but it's the synergy that makes it so magical. We were able to see that more clearly.

Lindsey had hesitated in the past to come back, so did something get resolved?

Buckingham: There were a number of false starts where I was trying to make solo albums. They would get constantly folded into group efforts. In retrospect I can say fair enough that you call yourself a band member and you've got to step up to the plate when the need arises. So that was an issue I had for a number of years that has come and gone. I am more appreciative of the fact that we know each other, we've been through so much together and we are really family.

Nicks: What else happened is I went into rehab on December 12th, 1993 and came out on the 27th of January – 47 days to come off of Klonopin. I nearly died. And I think one of the reasons that Lindsey left is because I was very, very high on this horrific tranquilizer. I didn't even make it to most of the recording sessions for [1987's] Tango in the Night. I was sick. And I think he was horribly worried that I was going to die. That's one of the reasons you [turns to Buckingham] wanted to quit. We had this huge tour and it was booked. We were at Chris' house and [Lindsey] stood up and said "I quit," and I – being so high and so messed up – just raged across the room and I wanted to kill him.

When I came out of rehab, I did a small three-month tour, and I got through it. I was going to be OK, and everyone knew I was going to be OK. And I think that's when Lindsey thought Fleetwood Mac could go on, because his beloved ex-girlfriend was not going to die. She was going to make it.

So everything since then has been different from what it was before?

Buckingham: It's still evolving, and that's the beauty of it too. I've known Stevie since high school. We were a couple for many, many years, and we've been a musical couple forever. After all this time you would think there was nothing left to discover, nothing left to work out, no new chapters to be written. But that is not the case – there are new chapters to be written. It's quite extraordinary.

You have some history in this studio.
Buckingham: We recorded Tusk in Studio D.

Nicks: Thirteen months. We were here a lot.

That was right after Rumours, so you had a lot of freedom.

Buckingham: That was my line in the sand, the Tusk album. It was clearly an undermining of what was expected of us.

Nicks: It was the opposite of Rumours.

Buckingham: It was an undermining of upholding the brand, which we now represented. It was also an undermining of what a lot of groups find themselves doing, which is painting themselves into a corner by doing only what's expected of them. It was a stand for art and for spontaneity and for the left side of the palette. It certainly did not perform commercially in the same way, nor would we have necessarily expected it to. It was a double album, for one thing. I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when Warner Bros. put that on in their boardroom and listened to it for the first time. Over time it has been vindicated as a piece of work. It has become a darling for the indie bands, or at least the mentality of what that represents.

Nicks: Studio D was covered with Polaroids and shrunken heads and angel wings, and all of our stuff was in there. You walked into that room and there were big massive tusks on each side of the board, and the board was called Tusk. All of those songs – "Save Me a Place," "Sara" – it became something so beautiful and so ahead of its time. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall too when they played it, because they had to be horrified. I was a little horrified myself over that 13-month period, but it was an experience. We were going to the top of the mountain, and it was very spiritual. And again, we were having serious relationship problems during Tusk, but when we went into that studio and saw those tusks, and all the amazing stuff we collected and brought in every day, we became part of a world that was fantastic.

What are your current recording plans?

Buckingham: When Stevie was on the road, and not long after her mom had passed away, Mick, John and I got together and we cut a bunch of tracks, and they turned out great. They were all done in Stevie's keys. They were done with her in mind. Subsequently, Stevie and I have gotten together, and she's sung on two of those. There's also another track that dates back to [pre-Fleetwood Mac project] Buckingham-Nicks that Stevie and I built up from scratch. There's a lot of stuff there. Some of this we will do in the show. We're not pushing it. We're just going to wait and see what everybody wants to hear.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Because .. noones listening .. jaded ears somewhere in the mix

Anonymous said...

I think the guys want it but Stevie's out of gas and wants to rest a while longer on her IYD laurels. She wasn't happy with SAY YOU WILL and doesn't want to go through another grueling recording experience.

Anonymous said...

For crissakes, throw out the new material already!!!

Anonymous said...

Such a creative bunch; give us new material. No excuses! The fans want to hear new material.

Anonymous said...

Who are we to demand new music? Shouldn't we just be satisfied with another re-release of Rumours? I know that my boss would be satisfied paying me for work I did in 1977 that he's payed for 5x over...

Anonymous said...

When they did the Unleashed tour, Stevie promoted it saying that "just this one time" would they be going out without a new record. Reading between the lines, John and especially Mick need Fleetwood Mac to tour to refill their bank accounts and Stevie's most likely going along to fulfill a perceived obligation. On a creative level she seems just about done with Fleetwood Mac, which is a shame because she's still at her best with them. Any other band would record, put out and album and tour. But this is Fleetwood Mac and so everything must be complicated and torturous - for fans as well as the band.

MplsMike said...

I think Stevie is just too dejected over the fact that performers in that age group (for the most part) just get relegated to adult contemporary. The singles off her last two albums received pretty good airplay - on adult contemporary and adult alternative formats.

Stevie has always been a prolific writer ... I would bet money there are a few fully recorded tracks left over from IYD and TISL that did not make it onto those records due to sequencing issues and time constraints. Surely she can give Fleetwood Mac two of those songs to match Lindsey's two. I would rather have a full album, but I'd also much rather have a few new songs than none at all.

MplsMike said...

They have time between rehearsing to throw some stuff together for at least an EP. We could get the two songs from Lindsey that are done, we could get a couple from Stevie that I'm sure she has laying around, and there have to be some outtakes from previous Fleetwood Mac recordings we don't have. Sure it's not a new album but it's something.

Anonymous said...

Free songs download with every ticket purchased. :)

Anonymous said...

Lindsey said he didn't think Stevie had a lot of "songs" lying around. We know she has bookoos of journals, but that doesn't necessarily equate into songs. Personally, and I know I'll catch slack for this, but I'd love for Stevie to finally quit Fleetwood Mac and finally get on to doing things she wants to do! A book, a movie, release IYD documentary, do some more "creative" projects...Fleetwood Mac is stale and boring without new material. That's why I'm not shelling out $150 for a ticket.

Anonymous said...

I would LOVE to see them do Without You, or even some of their other Buckingham Nicks stuff like Crystal and Frozen Love. I would also love to hear Silver Springs, Bleed To Love Her, Sisters Of The Moon and Sara as well as a few songs off the Tusk album, which is my favourite : )

Anonymous said...

It seems like Stevie's not in a good place right now and is relying on Lindsey and Fleetwood Mac to provide some "normalcy" in a life that is anything but. Stevie lost her mother recently and was very, very close to her. Obviously Stevie's dealing with deep grief and is probably involved in a reexamination of her life. I imagine she deeply regrets not having children - especially Lindsey's children. Kristen is another of the Stevie look-alikes Lindsey's always gone for - which is not to say that Lindsey and Kristen aren't the real deal - they most certainly are. But Stevie's feeling the price of fame is a way that's real and harsh. She's alone and lonely and no longer young. And she can't write about it because the vain, mighty Stevie Nicks won't allow it. If you feel that way, do standards, Stevie. I don't want another Stevie song about a
"Secret Love" or "Strange Lady from the Mountain." A new, real Stevie song would do just fine.

Anonymous said...

If they don't release either of the two songs they now have completed they are going to have a lot of pissed off fans, and they will also have missed a perfect opportunity to put them out without a whole album. ITunes and the internet release era gives them the prime option to do what they said only a month or so ago: release one song now, and the other when the tour starts.

Anonymous said...

I've said it and I will say it again -- Fleetwood Mac without Christine ain't Fleetwood Mac. It's Buckingham Nicks with Special Guests, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. If they can't get Christine -- at least give us a fresh, cool Buckingham Nicks show... That would ROCK.

Anonymous said...

Clarification to my comment above: "Fleetwood Mac without Christine ain't Fleetwood Mac. It's Buckingham Nicks with Special Guests, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, playing Fleetwood Mac songs"!

Whew. How's that for complicated?

Anonymous said...

Regarding above comment: And that's still not even mentioning the other Special Guest musicians Neale Hetwood, Brett Tuggle, Carlos Rios, Sharon Celani, Lori Nicks, Jana Anderson, Taku Hirano... etc.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry but some of you are pathetic! With "fans" like you, who needs enemies? Constantly ripping on them for touring without a new album when there still very well may be one after all, tearing down Lindsey and Stevie because Christine decided to retire, constantly criticizing Stevie's clothes and appearance, and now psychoanalyzing her too--Seriously, just pathetic!

Anonymous said...

Spare us the phony moral outrage. If we're "pathetic" for analyzing the band and its dynamics in depth, along with a certain amount of psychological speculation, what does that make you? A prissy, self-elected enforcer who wants to limit our free speech. You should consider becoming a Justin Bieber fan and leave us alone.

Anonymous said...

I do see both sides of this argument. A good portion of us feel somewhat starved for new music, while many of us are perfectly content with the upcoming tour, which coincides with the release of the new Rumours package. Some of use see the Christine McVie incarnation of the band as the one and almighty, while others see the band as... an adaptable, ever-changing musical entity (as from the very beginning) forging ahead as always!

Spoinny said...

boy I wonder how they are going to make it through such a long tour, stevie will be truly tired out by the time they get down under!

Anonymous said...

I think Stevie loves touring alot more than staying home. She will be making a boat load of money and then she can concentrate on maybe a new solo album. We can at least hope right?

Anonymous said...

"Analyzing the band and it's dynamics in depth?" Okay, whatever.

Anonymous said...

I love the Mac; love new songs and old songs. Have been to many concerts. . . I read something where Tom Petty's fan club gets some kind of discount with ticket prices. Not sure of the details. I really wish FM would do something like that to honor the fans who've hung in there over the years. Tickets so expensive!

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